Influência da microestrutura de ferros fundidos na ocorrência de metal dobrado e no comportamento tribológico de superfícies brunidas

Abstract

The present work discusses the influence of the microstructure of gray cast iron (GCI) and compacted graphite iron (CGI) on the occurrence of folded metal (FM) on honed surfaces and its tribological behavior in ring-on-cylinder test under lubrication. The cast iron samples were taken directly from an internal combustion engine block in regions of different thicknesses. The piston ring used was a nitrided martensitic stainless steel with asymmetrical profile and the lubricant oil was the SAE 30 CF. The quantification of grooves and folded metal (FM) was carried out using a methodology based on the literature. For the execution of the tribological tests an adaptation was designed and built for assembling the samples and for controlling the oil temperature. One parameter to evaluate the tribological performance was proposed - tribological merit index (TMI) - which considers the coefficient of friction (COF) and changes in topography. Each cast iron presented typical microstructures. However, differences in morphology and graphite distribution were observed; the samples from thinner wall presented higher number of graphite and less fraction of graphite. FM was observed on the plateaus and grooves of the honed surfaces in all samples. Quantification showed that the widths of the grooves were statistically similar and with a high percentage of obstruction. GCIs present a higher amount of FM in the Spk region (FMspk).The thicker wall samples presented a higher amount of FM in the grooves (% FM / Groove) and this parameter had a strong and positive statistical correlation with the graphite fraction. Evidences, obtained in cross section evaluations, corroborated the relationship between FM and graphite. It was verified that FM can be formed directly on graphite or indirectly due to the extrusion of this phase. In addition, its morphology and orientation influenced the occurrence of FM. Preliminary short-term tests were performed to evaluate the repeatability of COF results. These tests indicated less dispersion for conditions with lower frequencies and higher normal forces. Evaluations of the dynamics of the tribological test allowed to point out conditions to reduce the COF during the half-cycles of movement and to associate them to the theory of hydrodynamic lubrication. The COF for long-term tests presented cyclical behavior with transitions. These transitions were associated with formation-removal-formation mechanisms of ZDDP tribofilms. The tribological tests imposed changes on the roughness parameters (mainly with smoothness of the surfaces) and reductions on the film parameter. The thickness of samples affected little the TMI; and a better tribological performance of CGIs was detected. The FM quantification routine showed a technical limitation due to surface smoothing, which causes a change in the reference of heights of honed surfaces. Nevertheless, there was a reduction in %FM/Groove and tendency to clear the grooves. There was little influence of FM in COF behavior due to the similarity of FM parameters among the materials. However, FM was associated as a three-body abrasive agent and a strong positive correlation between the FMspk parameter (at the beginning of the test) and the TMI parameter was described.